Commodore Touch Point User manual

ouchQoint
Graphics Tablet
Users’ Manual

"How to hook it up"
for your Commo ore 64 “
Congratulations
Usually there's a big section here that tells you how lucky you are to have bought
this wonderful product. But you already know how wonderful the Touch Point
graphics tablet is. That's why you bought it. And we already know how wonderful
it is. That's why we ade it. So probably the best way for us to use this space is
si ply for us to congratulate ourselves on being intelligent enough to ake Touch
Point, and also to congratulate you for being intelligent enough to buy it. So
congratulations!
What you can o with Touch Point
Touch Point lets you truly get involved in your drawings. You're not one step
re oved like you are w ith special co ands or long progra s. You just draw. And
see the result instantly on-screen. The way it should be. So you get instant feedback.
And instant pleasure.
More software than you can shake a finger at
Your Touch Point tablet co es co plete w ith our exciting new Finger Painter
software to give you all the tools you need to draw virtually any kind of graphics,
but there are any other graphics software packages available fro VID EO TECH
that allow you to use the Touch Point Tablet for specific graphics tasks such as
Engineering Drawings. . .Architectural applications and even on artistic Life Draw
ing course. Look for these VIDEO TECH software packages wherever fine electronic
gear is sold.
Use your fingers to raw
You don't have to rely on stiff light pens or styluses. Just draw with your finger.
What you draw appears instantly on-screen and can be corrected, enlarged, copied
or anipulated in dozens of ways.
1

I
Enough talk. . . let's hook it up
to your Commo ore 6 4“
What you nee to o this:
*1 Commo ore 64™ computer
*1 TOUCH PO INT graphics tablet
*1 FIN G ERPA INTER software cartri ge (Also in TP box)
* 1 Commo ore isk rive (Optional)
* 1 Commo ore MPS-801 printer (Optional)
To make it all work together, just follow these simple steps:
1) Turn the power OFF to everything (Except the lights) Otherwise you w ill
likely get fried and never discover just how uch fun it is to use your Touch
Point Graphics Tablet. . . and w ouldn't that be a pity after you've co e this
for?
2) Make sure your Co odore 64 is connected to your TV set or onitor in the
usual way. (If you don't know the usual way, refer to your Co odore user's
guide)
3) Connect the black cable between your Touch Point Tablet and the Joystick
port 1 on your Co odore 64.
4) Insert the FIN GER PAIN TER software cartridge into the socket in your
Co odore where cartridges usually go.
5) Turn everything ON again. (Note: Do not touch the graphics tablet grid or put
any object over it by the ti e you turn ON the co puter)
6) Go.
2

"How to make it work"
Some of the stuff we'll be talking about
an what it all really means . ..
There's so e ter inology that goes w ith this explanation and you're going to have
to learn it sooner or later. So it ay as well be now. And that way you'll get it all
over w ith right fro the start. . .and you'll also understand what we're talking
about in later sections of the this booklet. So here we go:
(In order of their appearance):
Screen: The TV screen or onitor screen
Menu: The choice of things to do that appears on your screen
Cursor: An arrow that shows your on-screen position
Box: Square on-screen w ith co and w ritten inside
Common : An instruction to the co puter
Tool: I ple ent fo r drawing such as brush
3

The way it works:
Your Touch Point tablet is easy to use. You've already got it all hooked up and
ready to go. If you've follow ed the instructions in the "H ow to hook it up" section,
the screen on your Co odore 64 should look like this:
i n j®T* is V*lilll 1
S T R O K S ^ | . 11 . | | , | j _ , k | N | |;.;| | ^ | | ^ |
GR,D . I
i |L IN E ^ ^ . 1FR R M E ^ | TRIHNGLE 1
|RINDS |
o Ol
L! ^ BLOCK | pvriiyii \DISC a
♦ 1
FILL |
“ 1RRV5 . ENLARGE |
.. 1EX-COLOR k
.... ... - + 15VIYIITIETRV 1 — 1
PRINT |
^ |LLEHR El —IIH CDPV |
-* 1 STORAGE CORRECT
*- tftr
4

Picking stuff to o:
Touch the graphics tablet with your finger. Y ou'll see an arrow that oves on the
screen whenever you ove your finger. This is called the cursor. Move your finger
on the tablet so that this arrow oves to the box on the screen which contains the
co and that you want to do. For exa ple. . .if you want to DRAW , ove the
arrow until it is in the DRAW box on-screen.
When the arrow is inside the box, push any button on either sides of the Touch
Point unit. The DRAW box w ill begin flashing.
Making the stuff you picke work:
When the DRAW box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet.
Then push any button again. In a short ti e the enu w ill disappear and the
screen w ill be clear.
When the screen clears, hold any button down and you can begin drawing with
your finger or w ith the stylus. Whatever you draw on the tablet w ill appear on the
screen.
To stop:
To stop drawing let the button up. And to return to the ain enu, release
your hand fro the graphics tablet again and push the any button.
5

To pick another comman :
A t this point the original enu w ill appear on the screen and you can select another
co and or tool by oving your finger on the tablet which w ill ove the arrow
(cursor) on the screen to point into another box containing another co and (or
the sa e one if you want to do it again).
How you know what you picke :
There are actually three types of choices you can ake.
1) You can choose COMMANDS to w ork w ith like DRAW or ENLARGE
2) You can choose shapes for your brush fro a range of 9 in order to give your
drawings the kind of weight and feel that you have in your ind.
3) You can choose the color and pattern for filling in parts of the screen or
certain shapes.
When you have successfully chosen a COM M AND, it blinks off and on before the
screen clear.
The brush shape in use at the o ent is shown by a colored square which appears
under it on the enu screen.
An arrow indicates whether a solid color or a pattern has been chosen.
All your rawing will be one in the brush shape an color that you have selecte
last.
So be sure that's what you want before you begin your rawing.
To Cancel or E xit fro a co and and return to the ain enu, release your
finger or stylus fro the Touch Point tablet and push any button.
6

The Touch Point comman s
an where to fin them:
G ri ..................
. . (Define a rawing g ri )..............................
............ Page 8
D r a w
............... . . (Freehan ra w in g )....................................
............ Page 9
Fill ..................
. . (Fill area with color or pattern) ............ ............
Page 10
Correct ............ . . (Cancels most recent action) .................. ............ Page 11
L in e .................. . . (Draws straight lin e s )................................. ............ Page 12-13
Rays ...............
. . (Lines ra iate from one p o in t) ............... ............
Page 14
Ex Color .... . . (Exchanges colors).......................................
............ Page 15
Frame ............
. . (Makes rectangular outlines) ..................
............ Page 16
B lo c k ...............
. . (Makes fille rectangles)........................... ............ Page 17
Enlarge ............
■ • (Magnifies parts of raw ing) .....................
............ Page 18
Print ...............
■ ■ (Print out the working picture) ...............
............ Page 19
Triangle .... . . (Makes hollow trian gles)
...........................
............ Page 20
Pyrami .... . . (Makes fille triang les)
..............................
............ Page 21
C o p y
...............
■ ■ (To another part of the screen) ...............
............ Page 22
Storage ............
• ■ (Save or retrieve rawings) ........................
23-24
Ring ..................
■ ■ (Makes the outline of a circle) ............... ............
Page 25
D is c ..................
■ ■ (Makes fille c ir c le )....................................
............ Page 26
Symmetry . . . ■ ■ (Draws in all 4 corners of screen) ....
............ Page 27
Clear ...............
. . (Erases all on-screen raw ing) ..................
............ Page 28
Brush ...............
. . (Drawing tool with 10 sh apes) ...............
............ Page 29
Color Palette . . . (15 colors/15 patterns)
..............................
............ Page 29
7

Gri
What it oes:
This co and creates a grid on-screen to help you draw to scale and perspective.
How to get it working.
Move the cursor on the screen, by oving your finger on the Touch Point tablet, to
the box on-screen which says GRID inside.
Push any button on either sides of the Touch Point tablet. The screen w ill be blank
for a o ent and afterwards, the enu reappears w ith the GRID box flashing
which indicates the G RID has already drawn on the picture.
To remove the gri :
To re ove the grid just ove the cursor to the G RID boxand push any button. The
screen w ill be blank and after a few seconds, the enu reappears. On enu, the
GRID box w ill not flash any ore and the GRID is co pletely cleared.
8

Draw
What it oes:
It lets you draw any shape you want on the screen. All you need to do is ove a
stylus or your finger on the Touch Point tablet and the shapes you ake will
appear on the screen.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the DRAW box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the DRAW box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and press
any button. As long as the button is kept pressed down, what you draw on the tablet
will appear on the screen. To stop drawing, si ply release the button. To resu e,
press it down again.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But don't worry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it w ith other co ands.
9

Fill
What it oes:
This co and allows you to fill on area w ith the selected color. The area filled
with this co and will be enclosed by different colors or perhaps by lines. But it
ust be totally enclosed. Otherwise your selected color or pattern w ill fill the
whole screen.
(If this happens, use the CORRECT co and to cancel the FI LL and then exa ine
the area to find and repair the 'leak'.)
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the FIL L box of the enu.
Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the FILL box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and press
any button.
Your w orking screen w ill appear w ith whatever work you done on it. You ust
ove the cursor to the area you wish to fill, then ake sure you have selected the
right color.
When this is all done, then push any button on the Touch Point unit and the area
on screen w ill be filled w ith your selected color or pattern.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But do n't worry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it with other co ands.
10

Correct
What it oes:
When you use this co and, you cancel or undo whatever you did last. But only
the last thing. Nothing eles. You cannot try to cancel out the last one before that.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the CORRECT box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
The screen w ill be blank for a few seconds. When the enu return, your drawing in
the last co ands is cancelled.
11

Line
What it oes:
This co and lets you draw straight lines fro any point on the screen to any
other point on the screen.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the LINE box of the enu.
Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the LINE box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and press
any button.
When the work screen appears, ove the cursor to the point at which you wish to
begin the line. Then press any button.
Next ove the cursor to the desired end point of the line. And push any button
again. You'll see the line follows the cursor wherever it goes and w ill re ain straight
no atter what the angle on screen.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, releases your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But don't w orry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can w ork on it w ith other co ands.
12

Lines
What it oes:
Si ilar to the LINE co and, this one lets you draw a bunch of straight lines,
connected end to end. So you draw one line, end it and that end beco es the
starting point fo r another line and so on. W ith this co and you can draw shapes
and for s w ithou t having to set up new points all the ti e.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the LINES box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the LINES box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button.
When the screen appears, ove the cursor to the place where you want to begin and
push any button. Then ove the cursor where the first line ends and push the
button again.
Then, ove the cursor to where you want the next line to end you'll see that as
soon as you ove, a line which starts where the last one ended w ill follow the
cursur until you press the button again. And this w ill continue every ti e you ove
the cursor.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But do n 't w orry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it w ith other co ands.
13

Rays
What it oes:
This co and allows you to ake any nu ber of lines which radiate fro one
fixed point.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the RAYS box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the RAYS box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button.
When the drawing screen appears, ove the cursor to the place where you want the
central point to be and press any button.
You can then draw as any lines radiating fro this point as you want si ply by
oving the cursor to the place where you want the radiating line to end and push
ing any button.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But don't w orry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it with other co ands.
14

Ex-Color
What it oes:
This co and lets you exchange a color on the screen for another color which you
have selected.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the EX COLOR box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the EX-COLOR box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet
and press any button.
The drawing screen w ill soon appear and you ust ove the cursor to the color
on-screen you wish to change. Make sure you have the new color selected then push
any button on the Touch Point unit.
Then color change will be ade in seconds.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu will appear in a short ti e. But don't worry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it w ith other co ands.
15

Frame
What it oes:
This co and lets you draw the outlines of rectangles of any size on screen, very
neatly.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the FRAME box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the FRAME box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button.
When the working screen appears ove the cursor to the place on-screen where you
want the rectangle to start. Then push any button. Y our starting place w ill be the
top left hand corner of the rectangle.
Next, ove the cursor on-screen until the rectangle is the size you want it to be.
Then push the button again. And that's all there is to it.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But don't worry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it w ith other co ands.
16

Block
What it oes:
This co and is si ilar to FRAM E except that the rectangles are filled w ith the
color or pattern which has been selected.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the BLOCK box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
When the BLOCK box flashes, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button.
Make sure you have the color or pattern you want selected as this is what w ill fill
the rectangle.
When the working screen appears ove the cursor to the place on-screen where you
want the rectangle to start. Then push any button. Your starting place w ill be the
top left hand corner of the rectangle.
Next, ove the cursor on-screen until the rectangle is the size you want it to be.
Then push the button again. And that's all there is to it.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu will appear in a short ti e. But don't worry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it with other co ands.
17

Enlarge
What it oes:
This co and allows you to ake blow ups of parts of your drawing to do fine
detail work or to correct s all istakes.
How to get it working:
Move the cursor arrow on screen until it is resting inside the ENLARGE box of the
enu. Then push any button on the side of the Touch Point tablet.
The w orking screen w ill i ediately appear, and you w ill see a big rectangle with
the usual cursor. Move this rectangle around until it encloses the area you want to
enlarge. Then push any button on the Touch Point unit.
The portion in the rectangle w ill be blown up to 2/3 the screen size. The DRAW
co and will work. . .just push the button and draw. And there w ill be a color
selection section at the botto of the screen. But these are the only co ands that
will work for enlarged sections of drawings.
To choose another comman :
To return to the ain enu, release your hand fro the Touch Point tablet and
press any button. The ain enu w ill appear in a short ti e. But do n't worry. . .
your asterpiece is still in e ory and you can work on it with other co ands.
18